Inside the heart of a sycamore tree
by Fyrefox666
Summary: Set 40 years before the Tim Burton movie, this work looks in on the life of Sheena, the Grand Tax collector of the Republic. An unassuming ape, she is a loyal part of the republic machine, but soon she will take her first steps in changing the future of her people. Trigger warning: Slavery Please comment and rate.
1. Chapter 1

Inside the heart of a sycamore tree

By Fyrefox666

The room smelt of sweat, salt, flea powder and humans. Sheena grimaced as she took it all in, and thought back to whether or not she really needed a human slave.

They were so disgusting, and bad smelling.

But she was the grand tax collector of the republic now, and while her team of understudies meant that she wasn't overly burdened by work, the republic had a number of subjects both rich and poor and they all had to be taxed as to their caste, rank and standing within the republic. So she needed a human to look after her house while she was away, to cook, clean and generally help her around the house.

She looked to her right and then to her left, human cages lined the walls, filled with about twelve humans each. They were all female, and all looked in relatively good conditions for second-hand human slaves.

"And what would her, most honorable and respected tax collector be doing in my place of business, hmm?" said a slimy and untrustworthy voice behind her

"I'm looking of a human slave, Limbox, a good one"

"Hmm, I recall a certain understudy to the last grand tax collector saying something about how she didn't need a slave, how the filthy creatures should be left outside with the other animals" Limbox said, smiling all the while

"Yes, well that was a number of years ago and I have realised what a chore it is to run my life, especially with my new position. So I need a slave and a good, already trained one" Sheena said with patience to the pathetic and slimy ape that ran these slave pits

"Well slaves come in all capacities, but a trained, full house slave will cost you, and I assume you want her older? Not thinking of buying a breeding pair?" The slave master continued as he pointed to various humans

"No and I really don't care, I just need my house looked after when I leave for work and a meal ready for me when I get home." She stated with dignity

"Hmm, I don't really have many humans of those qualities hanging around, especially with how the raids are going in the forest "the ape stopped and thought, then lit up "actually I've got just the thing, follow me." Limbox led her past rows of cages, sparsely populated with humans of varying size, sex and age. Then they stopped and looked into a cage near the back of the festering pit that constituted living quarters for these animals.

"I got her fresh last week, about 37, been with the Rolic family for about 20 of those, was the full time nurse to old general Thid before he died, bless his heart. But has a tendency to fight with other humans, even after her first night, which means I have to keep her here. I'll give her to you for two hundred silver".

"Deal" Sheena said with a nod of contentment.

"Good, now how do you want her delivered, because I could just give her to you now?" Limbox said in a hurried tone, as if wanting the slave woman before him gone as quickly as she had come.

"No, I have to be back at work in half an hour. Have her delivered this Saturday so I can inform and train her. Now I best hurry. My address is the big sycamore tree beside town center, I'll be waiting outside when you deliver" Sheena said to Limbox as she casually walked out of the slave pits.

* * *

The sun was high, the air humid and Sheena was impatient. She had been standing outside her home for some 3 hours and still Limbox had not arrived with her new slave. Truly she still didn't think she needed a slave, after all what would a filthy, brutish and uncivilized animal bring to her home but fleas, disease and dirt.

But then she looked back at her house and saw the mess, what was once a vibrant and growing sycamore was now a wilted and literally dying mess of a tree and it was all because of her new position. By Semos it was only by the grace of chance and good timing that she was even able to be here to receive her slave, and here she was waiting. She had things to do and apes to check, but no. She stood here waiting. Then she heard it, the sound of horseshoes on semi-rocked ground. Soon she could hear the wheels of the slave transport carriage, and then she could see it. It was impressive, big, black and drawn by two similar horses, but she was unamused by Limbox's flair in delivering her slave and just waited by her tree. Finally the carriage made it to her tree and stopped, and then the door opened and out jumped Limbox, grease and all.

"Well, well, well. I can see why you need a slave. Letting that position of yours go to your head aye?" Limbox asked as he went around to the gage attached to the back of the carriage.

"That won't be the only thing going to my head if you don't hurry up and open that gage, I have things to do today. And I shouldn't have to wait 3 hours for a slave." Sheena said impatiently, Limbox's attitude and general presence were getting on her nerves.

"Well I'm sorry your grand taxness, but a large shipment of humans just came in from the woods and I had my hands full all morning trying to sort them. But here she is." Limbox said as he came down from the gage steps with a long chain of iron attached to the slave Sheena had ordered yesterday. "Now usually for first time human owners I stay around for an hour or two to make sure that the owners know what to do in certain situations, conditions on the returning of humans, refunds, that sort of stuff but you being such a high ranking member of the governmental machine should know exactly what to do. So..." he said holding out the chain for Sheena to take "I just be on my way." Limbox finished as Sheena took the chain and held it.

"Oh actually, Limbox could you tell me one simple thing before you go?" Sheena asked in her authority voice.

"Yes?" Limbox said standing on the doorway to his carriage, about to go in.

"Does she talk?" Sheena asked as the woman moved to her side

"I don't know, ask her." Limbox said as he closed the door and ushered the driver to take off.

"Now there's as greasy ape as you'll ever find" Sheena said aloud to no one in particular as she watched the carriage move swiftly down the street.

"Yes, Ma'am" the woman to her right said

"Ahh, so you can talk. Well good, now I won't need to go through anything tedious like teaching. Now come, I have to show you your tasks and where you will be living." Sheena said as she led the slave into her home, the chain weighing heavy in her hands.

* * *

"Now, I am the grand tax collector of the Republic, as you may already know, and this job is very stressful and extensive. And as you can probably see, this has affected the running of my life. From the cleaning of my house, to my eating habits. So your job, slave, will be simple. I expect you to cook, clean and take care of the parts of my life I can no longer look after with my new position as well as keeping this living tree alive. Is this clear?" Sheena asked the slave as they walked up the stairs of the grand sycamore that served as the house of Sheena.

"Yes, Ma'am" The slave responded as they walked.

"Good. Now I have never owned a slave, nor do I really want to, but times are changing and you animals seem to becoming an ever needed commodity of modern life. Though why this is, will always elude me. So here are the rules of my house to you.

1st. You will stay inside at all times unless I have need of your services outside of the house.

2nd. You will keep your sleeping area and space clean and as odor free as possible, I often have to have important people over for various important social occasions so I do not want your animal stench or behaviors to bother them.

3rd. You will dress for each day, and if I ever see your naked body I will make sure you regret ever showing me it.

4th. I expect dinner every day at sunset and a breakfast at sunrise, you will find all the necessary cooking implements in the kitchen, as well as a stocked pantry and larder. I can't be bothered separating my shopping habits to include you, so until I can think of a better solution you will eat only leftovers from my breakfast and dinner and any offcuts that can be spared.

5th. I expect the house to be spotless when I come back from a day's work.

And finally 6th. You may never enter my room without my express order and will clean it under my supervision.

If you do not follow these rules, you will find yourself back at those disgusting slave pits. Do you understand, slave?" Sheena finished as they reached the very top room of her tree

"Yes Ma'am" The slave replied.

"Good" Sheena said as she walked through the opening of her highest and smallest room, finding it, as usual filled with the knickknacks of a lifetime. However there was now a pile of hay just lying in the one of the corners of the room.

"And this is your room slave, I haven't the time or coin to put bars in or dig out a basement. So this will be your resting place. I already have duties I need to attend to in my workroom so for today I order you to simply clean up this room. It needs a good dust, and some of these items haven't been moved in years. I will prepare my own dinner tonight; however I do expect breakfast at sunrise tomorrow. So I suggest you move quickly to clean this room, so as to have some sleep before doing your duties." Sheena finished as she left the room, moving back down the stairs to her workroom

"Yes, Ma'am" She heard the slave call down the stairs. Sheena smiled; this wasn't going as badly as she had thought it would. Perhaps she could get use to having a slave after all, it at least gave the house another occupant. A brutish, animal and unhygienic occupant, but another living thing at the very least. She entered her workroom and jumped up to her work chair and table, the pile of senator's tax forms still there and waiting to be examined, she took her quill and quickly got to work, forgetting the slave and what she was doing as her head became filled with numbers and facts.


	2. Chapter 2

Inside the heart of a sycamore tree

Chapter 2

By Fyrefox666

Fa'lania looked around her new surroundings with curiosity, only a few of days and nights had passed and already she was in a new house, owned by a new master. Fa'lania didn't know how to feel, the new surroundings were odd compared to general Thid's house, but this new master seemed pleasant enough, and Fa'lania didn't see any weapons for discipline so for that she sighed with relief.

She went over to the pile of hay that was going to serve as her bed for the foreseeable future and grimaced. A straw mattress had been her bed for many years, it would be difficult sleeping on a hay pile again, though with the rushed behaviour of her new master, Fa'lania thought she would back on a straw mattress in little to no time.

She went over and sat on the hay pile, looking around her room more thoroughly with the afternoon light that streamed through the windows. The room was obviously very cluttered with a life-time of things, she remembered that general Thid had something of a similar room back at the old house, filled with momentous of his conquests in wars and battles, also trophies of large creatures as well as interesting rocks, crafts given to him by the younger members of his family and old weapons who's points had long ago dulled. Fa'lania remembered that she was never allowed to clean it and the smell of dust that just encapsulated the room. How sometimes Thid would spend a full day confined to that room, reliving old memories, she supposed, of happier days and more glorious feats.

She had to stop reliving the past, a new master, a new house and a new place of life. Breathing, she got up and went over to the first collection of stuff and started to sort, uncluttering the disorganised life of her new master, and learning in the process what sort of ape she was.

And it turns out she was quite sentimental, there were quite a lot of handmade children's gifts consisting of old and dried tree branches, leaves scatted the way children often do when working on a project and the heart-felt words of ape children. There were also old records and interesting pieces of paper that obviously meant a lot to the new master. There were also rings, expensive cloths and flashy regalia of some sort. Though there seemed to be no other apes occupying her new mistress's life. It seemed that beyond her younger years, her new master had not lived with another living soul for quite some time.

Fa'lania didn't like this, she had heard things from other slaves, of apes who were often alone, who ran through humans like they were food. Apes who through labour, sport or other activities, found ways of killing humans fast. But then her mind went back to the exchange her new Master gave her when she entered the tree. It seemed that her new Master was not fond of slaves and had never had them, which meant that her new Master would most likely either be aloof to Fa'lania's workings or overly critical, but she remembered the lack of slave punishing devices and breathed a sigh of relief.

Fa'lania worked through the afternoon and into early night before the room she was staying in looked to be in any sort of order, she then heard her new Master down stairs. Obviously making her own dinner from the sounds of cooking and smells of freshly cooked spinach. She heard her stomach grumble, it had been hours since her last meal, if you could call the mouldy bread of the slave pits, a meal. But after listening for a bit, it didn't seem that her new Master was going to call her to have food or scrapes and so Fa'lania went over to her hay pile and got as comfortable as was possible and tried to sleep.

* * *

Sheena lay in bed, awake. At her side was the latest reports from the senate spending budget, they had over spent again, but that wasn't what troubled her or kept her awake. No, what kept her awake was something all the more intangible and unknowable, a feeling that had been growing in her of late.

She guessed it was loneliness, but found that hard to believe. After all, she had been alone now for a very long time and it had never bothered her before. So why would it bother her now?

She mused on this in bed as the candles around her slowly melted under their own heat, in the end, just as midnight stuck, she found that she didn't know why, it was just a thing now for her. Loneliness and the want to abate it. She guessed that she should do something about it, and resolved to do so in the morning. And with that last thought she went to sleep.

Sheena woke with a start to the sounds of cooking coming from her kitchen, thinking briefly that an odd burglar had broken into her house to cook themselves food before remembering the dropping off of her slave yesterday. Sitting up, she breathed deep to the smell of freshly baked bread and cooked chard. It rousing her hunger in an instant and she was soon out of bed and wrapping her morning robe around herself. Of course with all her years of being alone, she never had much use for the thing except on cold mornings, but with her new slave she knew it was important to show herself a civilised being in response to the brutish creature that was making her breakfast.

As she walked into the kitchen, Sheena had to hold back a gasp. Her dining table was literally covered in food, almost every sort of breakfast food occupied the bowls and plates spread across her table. She could feel her mouth preparing itself for the feast that was going to take place, but then she did a quick calculation of both her stockpiled pantry and what lay before her, and quickly came to the conclusion that the slave had cleaned her out of food. Then she became very angry, the rage coming to her like never before.

"SLAVE!" the brute turned around, looking fearful.

"Y-yes Mistress?" The slave said in a shaking voice

"DID YOU JUST USE ALL OF MY FOOD TO COOK A SINGLE SERVING OF BREAKFAST?" Sheena shouted at the top of her voice, her anger at the slave fuelling her volume as she prepared to verbally kill her soon to be ex-slave.

"N-no mistress, I simply used what look like it had to be used right away. All stuff from the back of your pantry, scrapes mostly if truth be told" The slave stammered as she stared fearful at Sheena.

Sheena's anger died in an instant "Oh. Well in that case, good work slave. I've been meaning to get rid of some of that food for quite some time. But honestly, you don't have to prepare so many dishes, you are not feeding more than one ape." Sheena said in a more levelled voice

"I understand mistress, next time I will prepare a much smaller offering of food." The slave said, looking relieved now that Sheena had calmed down.

Sheena sat down at the head of the over plated table and began to eat. The food was excellent, and Sheena had soon gone through a wide variety before stopping, all the while Fa'lania stood where she was expected to stand and watched her master eat.

"Well Slave, you may have already proven your worth. With food like this I expect I shall be as fat as old Nado senior in no time at all. Now clean these plates and meet me outside of my room in thirty minutes, I have to give you my orders for the day before I leave." Sheena said with a contented sigh as she rose from the table and walked to her room.

* * *

Fa'lania breathed in the smells of her breakfast spread as her master walked away, and smiled quietly to herself. It seemed that this new master would be easy to live under, she had devoured her cooking and didn't even say that Fa'lania wasn't allowed to eat breakfast from the things she had left behind.

But time was of the essence as her master dressed herself, so Fa'lania quickly went to work, moving the half and fully filled plates to a space where she could would be able to eat in peace and without haste. She then went to the fire and put a bucket on top filled with water, so that she could do the dishes quickly after her master left her with the amount of work she was expected to do today. Fa'lania then went back to the place where she had moved the unfinished breakfast and sampled what she knew to be the best bits.

She then went to wait outside her master's bedroom door to wait, which she didn't do for long.

"Okay Slave, for today I simply want you to do a general clean-up of the interior. Dust where there is dust, sweep where there needs sweeping and mop where there needs to be mopping. Learn the house, see how I have tried to lay it out and keep it in that state but cleaner. But do not waste too much time as I still await dinner before the night is out, and remember you are not feeding an entire family, just a single ape. Now as I am leaving I will inform a police officer of your presence, and they will probably come by and see that you haven't run off throughout the day. And since I am feeling lenient, you can use the upstairs toilet as your toilet, assuming that you beasts understand the function of a toilet. Otherwise, simply do your mess outside in the gardens, making sure to bury your shit so as to help my garden in growing. Is this understood?" the ape asked, looking at Fa'lania with a piercing stare.

"Yes master" Fa'lania said as she nodded

"Good, then I will see you in about eight hours when I come home" Sheena said as she walked to the front door and left quickly, closing the door to her home with a firm pull and the click of a lock. Informing Fa'lania that she was truly both locked in the tree and alone.

Fa'lania let out a sigh of relief in this knowledge and went to the kitchen to eat her own meal, thinking that this master and the foreseeable future would be a pleasant one. One of easy chores and simple tasks, one where Fa'lania would have a minute amount of power over her new master and her actions, maybe even a future where she would be happy, with a certain type of reliability to her future life.

And as she tucked into a succulent meal of her own creation, a stray thought entered her head, a whisper of something strange and ethereal, the thought that although an ape, her new master wasn't exactly unattractive.


End file.
